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Grace (2009)

FrighT MasteR

August 18, 2009 - 10:24pm

REVIEWER RATING:

6/10

Grace is the perfect example of where I bought a little too into the hype surrounding a film and expected much more than it actually was. The film has received a lot of pretty good reviews since its festival run earlier in the year and I had high hopes in it being a movie to look forward to when it becomes more readily available. Sadly, I believed far too much of the hype and was left fairly disappointed in the end.

So the movie follows a woman basically obsessed with having a baby. After a couple tries, her third attempt is actually a keeper, but just as things were looking up, a car accident leads to the death of the husband and unborn child. However, the mother decides to still proceed with the rest of the three week term, regardless of whether she will deliver a dead baby or not. With the help of a mid-wife/ex-GF of hers, she delivers the dead baby which miraculously comes back to life, as if the mother willed it herself. The baby appears to be alive, but is it well? The mother gets it into her head that it must feed on blood from meat (and eventually humans) in order to fulfill its seemingly never-ending hunger.

The film definitely had its positive moments. For one, it manages to be both disturbing and creepy at times, especially with the great mood and atmosphere that was dominant throughout the film thanks to director Paul Solet. The lack of music and slight use of an orchestral track added more to the atmosphere, however, it also managed to show exactly how painfully slow-paced the movie actually is. I don't mind slow-paced flicks as long as it builds up to something, but this movie really had no build-up. It proceeds just as we'd expect, going from blood from meat products to humans, but even by the end we're left with quite a few unanswered questions, which may make some question the point of all that has happened.

Grace manages to be a pretty strange film at times as well, mostly because of its weird cast of characters. From the mother-in-law to the mid-wife, each character pretty much had their own odd quirk about them, making you sometimes wonder whether it's all just a fantasy or if all these people are actually this strange. Even the family doctor had some weirdness goin' on with him. Another factor that I misjudged was the gore -- there is none. We get some blood here and there and a nice practical effect towards the end, but that's about it. The body-count is extremely low, so there's not much to say on that part.

On the other hand the acting was above average and director Paul Solet shows that he has the right talent behind the camera, but just needs a little better material to work with. The story kept me interested for the most part, with the exception of a few really slow-paced scenes that could been played out differently.
In the end Grace showed potential, but failed in certain aspects, resulting in a sometimes great and yet sometimes mediocre effort. The premise itself isn't exactly the most original, as I remembered watching Baby Blood back in the early 90's with a similar premise. The biggest issue I had with the film was the horribly slow-pacing. That added with the lack of music literally caused me to doze off during a few scenes. Worth a check if you want a slow-paced moody and sometimes disturbing thriller, otherwise skip it.

OVERALL:

In the end Grace showed potential, but failed in certain aspects, resulting in a sometimes great and yet sometimes mediocre effort. The premise itself isn't exactly the most original, as I remembered watching Baby Blood back in the early 90's with a similar premise. The biggest issue I had with the film was the horribly slow-pacing. That added with the lack of music literally caused me to doze off during a few scenes. Worth a check if you want a slow-paced moody and sometimes disturbing thriller, otherwise skip it.

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